CleanTech Forward:
Unlocking Europe’s climate tech potential
CTF's mission is to ensure high-potential, low-carbon innovations never stall in the lab.
We accelerate industrial decarbonization by acquiring and scaling these innovations, since the urgency of the climate crisis requires a faster path to commercialization.
The problem: Europe leads in climate R&D, but lags in impact
Europe spends over €380 billion annually on R&D, yet >65% of its climate tech-related patents are never commercialized.
Early-stage (Technical Readiness Level: 3-5) innovations are stranded since existing pathways like incubators, and VCs fail to bridge the critical lab-to-market gap.
Consequently, vital climate technologies are not scaling fast enough to meet the urgent global net-zero targets.
The solution: Scale climate tech from lab to market
CTF bridges Europe’s climate tech commercialization gap by selecting, acquiring and building groundbreaking research into real-world impact
Risk-Free partnership
CTF's model offers a seamless, high-upside partnership. We invest our expertise and resources, while ensuring the inventors and university share in the financial upside. Should the venture not scale, all IP rights revert to the orginal patent holders
Structured path to impact
CTF applies proven principles to successfully scale ventures. These include a relentless focus on costs and securing early commercial interest, among many other principles that ensure the technology progresses rapidly and effectively to achieve lasting climate impact
CTF steps in early
CTF specializes in acquiring and scaling hands-on early-stage (TRL <5) climate tech patents. We collaborate closely with the inventors and the university
End-to-End commercialization
CTF leads the entire commercialization journey from lab to market. While we drive technical validation, securing funding, and off-take agreements, we rely on the inventors lab and technical support
Why work with us
Faster path to decarbonization
We help move research out of the lab and into the world, where it can accelerate industrial decarbonization
Bridging the gap
Most researchers excel at invention but lack the specialized funding, operational and commercial expertise required to scale a business. We can provide this missing link
Fully optional involvement, real upside
We lead the venture-building and funding process. Inventors can contribute selectively through their expertise and their research group’s resources on a realistic/feasible time commitment
No risk
If we don’t commercialize the IP, we revert it back to the inventors/the university
Share in financial success
Inventors and the university benefit financially through upside from the company and research funding from joint grant applications
Who we are
Willem Simons
Co-founder CleanTech Forward
Expert in scaling sustainable businesses driven by the strong believes impact only comes at scale. While building McKinsey’s Green Business Building team and scaling ventures in pyrolysis, biomaterials and gasification, he saw that many breakthroughs fail to reach their potential due to a lack of early-stage commercial execution. He is now dedicated to applying his venture capital and building expertise to accelerate these technologies from the point of discovery to global industrial adoption
Dr. Lukas Weimann
Co-founder CleanTech Forward
Expert in deep tech driven by the challenge of moving promising innovations from the lab to real-world impact. With a PhD in climate technology from Utrecht University and a background in chemical engineering from MIT and ETH Zurich, he specializes in bridging cutting-edge research with industrial scaling. His experience at McKinsey is focused on ensuring that scientific breakthroughs achieve the industrial footprint required to make a difference
Dr. Matteo Gazzani
Senior technical advisor
As an Associate Professor at Utrecht University with a PhD from Politecnico di Milano and a research background from ETH and MIT, he integrates chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineering to advance clean technologies. His role as an advisor at CleanTech Forward focuses on process design and complex systems optimization to help promising patents and innovations transition from the lab into viable, commercial-scale applications
Why our team is equipped to deliver
Deep commercial & technical expertise
We have backgrounds spanning McKinsey, top-tier universities, and Venture Capital, so we are well-equipped to lead fundraising, deal structuring and the technical roadmap from lab to pilot and are supported by commercial and technical advisors (e.g., Professor Matteo Gazzani)
Industry & investor
network
We secure critical partnerships by leveraging our network that ranges from corporate off-takers for commercial validation to deep-tech investors for growth capital
Fully committed to
impact
We are fully committed to working alongside you to develop and scale this technology as quickly as possible to help address the climate crisis and make impact
Contact
Do you want to know more about CTF?
Have an innovation you're ready to scale?
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